100 Days
by Praeludium
Summary: For certain reasons, Ash needs to get himself a girlfriend in 100 days. He finds himself and some of his friends from his adventures stuck in a recreational island where he tries to score a lover within his time limit, galge(dating-sim) style. This fic actually has more 'eligible heroines' ,but due to the 4 character restriction, I couldn't put everyone in the Characters section
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon franchise in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

**AN: This is my first fic; I hope you will enjoy it.**

* * *

Awaken, My Power! Day 1: The Encounter

"Ash, you're already 20—wouldn't you think it's time to get yourself a girlfriend?"

Slightly annoyed, I glared across the table at Gary Oak who was sitting in front of me. "What's it to you?"

Gary raised his shoulders in an irksome, nonchalant manner. He continued sipping his coffee while reclining on the backrest of his seat. He was obviously comfortable on his chair—legs crossed, arms positioned in a way that screams "Boss."

"He's just concerned, Ash—we all are."

I groan. "Not you too Tracey." I said while slumping even further onto my chair to show my discomfort on this topic.

"Pikachuuuu"

"See Ash, even Pikachu says so." Tracey caressed Pikachu's head for siding with him. Pikachu let out a sound of pleasure—_tsk, traitor._ I scowl at my furry yellow partner.

"I must agree that this is a matter of utmost importance. Delia and I were talking the other day and it seems that she is very worried for you Ash." Professor Oak, who was standing behind me, placed his right hand on my left shoulder. "Ever since you were a little boy you haven't shown the slightest interest in girls. You've gone through puberty without ever thinking about the opposite sex, or even your own gender, in a romantic way—that's just not healthy!"

"Or at least not normal—actually it's beyond abnormal." added Gary.

I sigh. "Is that all? I want to go home now if it's okay."

"Ash, just one last question." Professor Oak is now being dead serious. "Your mother and I have been thinking—since it would seem that you are not interested in both man nor woman..." _Oh no, I know where this is going._ "we thought and feared that maybe, just maybe..." _Please stop, why would you think this._ "Ash, are you into bestiality?"

"Pika?"

I stared blankly at Professor Oak. I stood up holding Pikachu in my arms and left the the Pokemon Lab without saying a single word.

* * *

"I'll never know how you say horrible jokes like that with a straight face gramps."

Professor Oak burst into laughter "It's a talent! Ash sure has matured a lot over the years didn't he? He would have thrown a fit if he was put under this much pressure 10 years ago." Professor Oak sat on the chair Ash sat on before he left. "But still, he really ought to find himself even just a little crush. Deila is very desperate—she fears that she might not see her grandchildren if she gets any. At first she had this image of her grandchildren in mind—adorable little children with orange hair running around in the open field of Pallet—she wouldn't want anyone else. Now, I think that she's beginning to think that anyone would do."

"Ash is quite a handful, isn't he" says Tracey.

* * *

"I'm home."

"Mime-mime!"

"Welcome back, Ash. How was counseling?" asked Mom with her back turned—she was cooking.

"Really, Mom, you don't have to do this for me."

She stopped what she was doing and turned to me. "Ash, dear, why don't you take a seat." She motioned to the dining table. "You should at least consider..."

"Mom, for the last time, I don't need a girlfriend."

After many weeks of this same argument, she finally snapped that day. "Listen here, young man." It was a terrifying, firm tone she was using, believe me. "You should know more than anyone that I take five pills every morning when I wake up and every night before I sleep—I am not in very good health. Who knows how long I'll last." She was clenching her chest and breathing heavily.

"Mom, calm down."

"I've raised you by myself since you were a little baby—I've done everything I can so that you would go through every day smiling. I've put up with every shit you've thrown at me. So now, please, just grant me my one selfish wish." I guess she saw how terrified I was that she fell on her knees and put her hands on her face. "I'm sorry I screamed at you. I'm just so stressed. It's just that I don't know if my meds are working; I don't know if I'll ever get to see you raise a family of your own; I don't know if I'll ever see you get a wife; I don't know if I'll ever get to see grandchildren." She sobbed.

I approached her and knelt down and hugged her. "I'm sorry. If it makes things better—I do like girls; not boys; and most definitely not bestiality."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah I guess. But these things take time right? You said so yourself when I was younger."

"I'm sorry Ash, I was just stressed out that's all—I thought I'd be happy if I get to see you have a girlfriend before I _go._ Lets just pretend this didn't happen, okay?"

"Sure, Mom." We stayed there hugging until the phone rang. "I'll get it. Why don't you go upstairs and rest."

I raised the receiver to my ear and was met with a voice I recognize. "Hey Melody, what's up?" Melody was now one of the most esteemed doctors based on the Kanto region.

"Ash! Perfect! Just whom I wanted to talk to."

"Are you calling as a doctor or as a friend?"

"Doctor...and also a friend. It's about your mom's meds. Today marks the start of the last 100 days of her treatment."

Okay, so let me explain a bit. Mom and I were desperate for a solution for this rare and "incurable" heart problem. Melody and her team were coincidentally working on a method for curing the same heart disease. It was called the _300-day gamble—_yes, it was experimental and a gamble. The subject would take 5 pills in the morning and 5 pills at night for 300 days (the pills are modified every week for medical babble I don't understand), during which she would temporarily be partially cured; and at the end of 300 days—it would either make her worse or ultimately cure her. At the time we were told about it, Melody and her team had already done simulations—with half of the subjects getting worse, and half getting cured in 300 days; she told me this was how the method got its project nickname. Anyways, Mom insisted that we try it. Melody didn't want to administer it; but Mom, being the nice person that she is, had friends from every walk of life—including company CEOs and politicians—she pulled some strings. Melody then was forced to use her as a test subject—she administers it for free just because she feels bad for doing this.

"The last stretch, huh?"

"Yeah. Listen," _oh no, with the sad tone she's using this cant be good,_ "simulations are different from the real thing. I know I've already told you this like a thousand times but let me say it again: this is really dangerous."

"I know, Melody. I was against it too."

"I just want you to know that I'm doing everything I can to help her—but sometimes, even blood, sweat, and tears just won't cut it. I-just-Ash...I just can't make any promises. I'm sorry."

"_Shhh _Melody, it's going to be fine—I've seen what you can do." I try to assure her, though I'm not so sure myself. "You're really smart and you work harder than anyone I've ever seen. You make every batch of pills better than the batch before—you're always trying to help. I'm sorry we put you through all this, I'm sorry we forced you to test your project on her. If things go the wrong way—though I doubt it since you really are good at what you do—no one will blame you, I'll make sure of it."

"Heh, a client pep talking the doctor. What has the world come to." I can hear her sniffing on the other side of the line. "Thanks Ash."

"Thanks too. Get some sleep, you sound like you haven't slept at all."

"Yes, doctor." She teased before she hung up.

_This can't be good—if even Melody isn't confident... I-I-I gotta get myself a girlfriend, for Mom!_ I ran out of my house.

* * *

_I know I thought I'd get myself a girlfriend but I don't know where to start._ I sighed.

"Get away from me!" I saw a boy getting pushed around by several thugs. "Ouch! That hurt!"

_Damnit, at a time like this! But, Mom would want me to help everyone who needs help._ I rushed down the road to help the boy. "Hey! Get away from him! Pikachu, Thunder!"

"Pikaaaah!" Pikachu screamed as he summoned a sizeable pillar of lightning from the clouds.

"Gah! Men, retreat! It's a trainer!" screamed whom it seemed to be the leader of the muscly, brawny men in studded leather jackets.

"Pikachuu?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"You said it buddy. I thought this was gonna get ugly too. What was that all about." It was truly a facepalm moment—guys dressed in a tough and rugged style ran away after one hit.

"Cool." The kid was practically drooling while he was staring at me with adoration. "You saved my life, Ash Ketchum!"

"Uh, thanks." I scratched my head. "But, you don't really have to. I'm kinda busy. I need to get a girlfriend in 100 days. How do you even know my name?"

"We shouldn't tell anyone but seeing as you done me a great service—I am Dawson, a fairy from the Order of Love!"

I looked at Pikachu signaling that we should back away slowly from this looney. "Really. That's fascinating."

"I sense disbelief." he said as he straightened up his attire. "What I say is true." He then proceeded to potentially blind us with light. He transformed. This is unreal. This crazy. He looks just like those cupids we see in cartoons—blond hair and blue eyes, clothed though. He was wearing a white hoodie and black slacks.

"No way."

"Yes. We of the Order of Love strive to keep the love alive in the world. We are dispatched by the Love Boss to protect the image of love from the likes of you and other things that may harm it. No offense to you though, Hero."

"From the likes of me? What does your 'Order' do anyway?"

"Yes, from the likes of you. I was sortied to keep an eye on you—one of the dense haremkings(HKs) that could potentially turn their harem to hopeless, cynical people who don't believe in love. I've been watching you for 10 years now. Normally, we fairies who are assigned to HKs don't interact with our targets. The most 'interaction' we do is when we observe that our target's harem is reaching its breaking point. When that happens, we make the harem forget that they've ever loved the HK to prevent any damage to the Pool of Love. On rare cases, the HK will develop feelings for someone (usually someone in his/her harem), but will be too dense to take action—we fairies will then temporarily awaken the other half of his HK powers that were sealed by obliviousness until he gets into a stable relationship; we will alter his memories afterwards of course. The power must be kept secret after all. That said, the organization must also be kept secret—you are the first HK to ever converse with a fairy from the Order."

"Pi! pikachupikah Chaa!" I don't know what Pikachu meant but lets just say, for my sanity's sake, that he said _WTF._

"Huh? Pool of Love? What?" I blinked a dozen times, probably.

"I can see that you are confused, Hero. The Pool of Love is the reservoir where all of the power of love emanating from loving goes. It is also where people who love borrow power to do incredible feats. I'm sure you have heard of the expression 'We can do anything with the power of Love!'"

"That's not the point."

"Nevertheless, you have shown interest in getting a girlfriend. This is a very good development—another HK could contribute to the Pool of Love. Majority of the HKs that were observed have had their harems forget they liked the HK—on extreme cases when we couldn't do that, we wipe the memories of them meeting the HK and viseversa. Though showing interest in getting a girlfriend isn't the same as our condition 'to fall in love,' I suppose I can make an exception since you saved my life."

"This is crazy. You'll help me get a girlfriend?"

"No, not really. I'm just going to awaken the other half of your HK powers."

"How do you even know if I'm an HK? I'm not really popular with the girls—If I was, I wouldn't be having this problem."

"Pika..."

"It's okay Pikachu, Hero is an HK, it's a given that he doesn't know he has a harem—he's extremely stupid at this area."

"I'm right here you know."

"I just wan't to ask you one question. How many girlfriends at a time are you looking for?"

"What are you talking about? You can't have more than one at a single time!"

"Correct. Well then, Hero, prepare yourself." He grinned and aimed his bow and arrow at my head.

"Heyheyheyhey! Where do you think you're aiming?" I ran around him to avoid getting shot.

"Please hold still, it wont hurt." The tip of the heartshaped arrowhead glistened pink. Who knew the other end of hearts were so pointy.

"Like hell it won't! Pikachu! Help!"

"Pika!" Pikachu perked up, ready to attack.

The arrow flew and hit me square in the head.

"NO!" I screamed grasping the arrow with both of my hands while I was on my knees. "I can't die like this—wait, it didn't hurt." The arrow vanished from my grip.

"Pikachu?"

"I told you."

"But I do feel sorta dizzy." soon after I said those words, I blacked out.

* * *

"Don't worry Pikachu, Hero will wake up in a few minutes. It's just a side effect of the Arrow of Awakening. Until then, let me gather his harem. I should make some preparations too. This _is_ a conquest mission."

"Chuu?"

"Oh, I have my own powers as a fairy of the Order for jobs like this. I explained before, haven't I? When an HK falls in love, or in Hero's special exemption-from-the-rules case (HKs shouldn't have their powers awakened by them only wanting a girlfriend. Having a player with HK powers out in the open seducing people will be detrimental to the Pool of Love), we of the Order awaken the HK's powers and make preparations. Normally, we would only make it so that the HK would be near the target partner, with as minimal interference from the rest of the harem. But since Hero is a special case who hasn't figured out who he likes yet—I'm going to summon his harem on the resort-town-island-thing 2 hours by boat from Pallet, the Galgeland. Behold! The power of money and connections plus a little magic!" Dawson made several calls on his tiny mobile phone—in speaker no less.

In just 2 minutes, he was able to rent out an villa in Galgeland and have a letter placed in the mailbox of each member of the harem—each letter slightly different in how it will lure its target into going to an all-expense-paid trip to Galgeland

Dawson rang one last call. "Hello, is this Deila Ketchum? Your son Ash Ketchum has been invited to a 100-day stay in Galgeland."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Deila's tone changed in a matter of seconds. "Don't mess with me. I'm in a bad mood."

"You don't understand. Our company who sponsored the event investigate oblivious fools like your son who can't fall in love and give the prize to those same unfortunate souls so that they may find love in Galge-land."

((That's obviously a lie. Who would fall for that?)) said Pikachu using his unintelligible language.

"Well, mymy, you people really have done your research on Ash. So what about this 'event'?"

((Nyaa. I stand corrected.)) Pikachu has his mouth and eyelids wide open.

"Our charity finds pleasure in helping idiots like your son in finding a lover."

"You have piqued my interest. You say you have a way to set my idiot straight?"

((Dark-mode Deila is truly scary_._))

"Affirmative. The event involves your son being placed in close proximity of hot or pretty or cute single women who are great potential wives for your son. For your concern as a parent, we assure you that these women are not sluts. Perhaps you even know some of them as friends of your son, maybe."

"In close proximity?! That's GENIUS! This way it's inevitable that he will become attracted to at least one of them. And then..." Deila pants heavily on her receiver like some pervert. "And then they procreate—I mean date. DATE! I meant date, honest!"

((...I have no words to express my shock.))

"All we need you to do is prepare and send Ash's luggage for the 100-day stay to this address." Dawson gave the address of the villa he rented in Galgeland to Deila over the phone.

"Consider it done my man."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Ugh." I grunt. "Pikachu, What happened?" I looked around and found myself in a room that isn't mine. The sun has just risen.

"Where am I?" I stood up in panic.

"Oh, Hero you're awake." _It can't be—Pikachu's allowing a someone to hold him like a an American football! What's wrong with me; that isn't what's important: Dawson wasn't a dream! _I gripped on my messy hair and pulled in frustration. _Calm down Ash. This is crazy. You're not crazy._

"Hero? Are you alright?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu hopped down from the arm of Dawson and landed on the floor in front of me.

"You, fairy. You are a figment of my imagination! Begone!" I closed my eyes and opened it again in hopes of the fairy disappearing.

"I'm real dude."

"Noooo!" I swung open the door and saw the calendar on the wall that was revealed upon the opening of the door. "What?! How is it morning again?! Don't tell me it's already the next day!" I began to feel more and more panic inside me.

"PiPi Pika Pikachu?" I heard Pikachu say in a concerned voice before a ran out the door and down the staircase.

"Don't worry, he'll understand when he meets the girls—well, girl _singular._ Only one has arrived so far; the others should be coming this afternoon."

I didn't know where I was going, but I ran and I ran until I found myself to what looked like the living room where I found myself meeting a close friend.

"Ash?!" Misty asked me with shock. She dropped her large, probably overstuffed, duffel bag she brought with her.

It was then that I discovered what Dawson meant by HK powers—though it hadn't occurred to me at the time that what I was seeing was _that_. Meeting Misty triggered this interface to appear in my view—kinda like I'm in a game; or like I'm wearing the Ironman helmet. I can see stats and numbers—I can see a meter with a heart—basically a lot of stuff. Imagine having all these shapes with data written in them in your view but are not actually there—you can see it but you can't touch it. It's like looking through a sniper scope—you can see the crosshair on the target but it isn't really _on_ the target; I can see this game-like interface but I can't touch it. I asked Misty if she can see it too.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing there." She replied while looking around.

"But it's there! There's even a bar-or-meter-or-guage-thing on the floor!" I adjusted the tilt of my head to center the meter in my view but the moodmeter moved along with my head, keeping itself at the bottom of my perspective—it was now a step forward from my foot. I looked back at Misty, the meter was now, again, seemingly on the floor below Misty.

"And just a little while ago there was a rectangle labeled 'info' too. It's true, Misty! 'Info'!" My view suddenly became masked with a hot-pink semi-transparent rectangle with pieces information written on it the moment I said the last two words in my sentence. "Whoa! It's back...and it's larger! It's covering my whole view!"

Misty looked thoroughly confused.

"I'm not lying! Look, I'll even read it to you!" I looked intensely at the eyes of Misty to show my seriousness.

"_Misty deAzur__é__. 21 years old. 57kg. 163cm. 82-57-78._"

Misty screamed and shielded her body with her arms.

"H-h-h-how do you know my measurements?!"_ So that's what those three numbers were_.

"_The fourth—albeit not officially—member of the sought after Sensational Sisters; a bit of a violent tomboy but actually a caring girl—Misty deAzur__é__ is the current gym leader of Cerulean City. She is a descendant of the noble deAzur__é line which was said to be the lords of Cerulean for centuries—although there is no evidence known to the public that supports this theory; however, such a backstory does fit the sound of her surname. __Being a tsundere to the core, she isn't very honest to herself when it comes to her feelings; though inside, she is quite the romantic. She actually likes cute things like many other girls—stuffed toys, kittens, you name it—and she hates bugs, a common fear among people of both genders. Misty is the first traveling companion of the protagonist whom she followed under the pretense of breaking her bike. Ever since, she had a little cru—"_ Her worsening face of horror as I continued reading what was on the semi-transparent box masking my vision was a sight to behold_. _The marker on the meter continued to move towards the meter's red-colored zone as I read.

"Stop!" She screamed as she hit me with a tremendous force of an uppercut, knocking me out in seconds.

* * *

"Shitshitshitshit; How does he know? Does he even know? He can't know. It's been 10 years and he never found out! I even knocked him out, you idiot, Misty. We haven't seen each other for a long time—this would make such a horrible impression. Ohfudgeohfudgeohfudge." Misty was pacing around trying to calm herself with her hands tightly grasping her hair. "I know," Misty said to no one in particular, "I'll call him a pervert for knowing personal details that I have never disclosed to the public. It's a perfect excuse for hitting him! Maybe I'll call him crazy too..."

Peeking through the living room entrance stealthily, Pikachu and Dawson saw everything. "It would seem that he lacks the know-how that should've been included with the awakening of his powers. No matter, we'll just have him go through a tutorial when he regains his consciousness—I'll teach him everything he needs to know; you'll help too right, Pikachu?" Dawson turned to Pikachu.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon franchise in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.**

**AN: Thank you to those who followed or favorited; it was a great encouragement to have people show a bit of interest in my first fic. Chapter 2 would have a slower pace, focusing on Ash being showed the ropes of his Powers with Misty as an unknowing practice dummy, much to her chagrin. I only just noticed that fanfiction doesn't display the chevrons that I've been using for Pikachu's speech; I've changed it to (( )).**

* * *

I Have No Idea How My Power Works! Day 2: The Tutorial

I grunted and struggled as I tried to open my eyes and get up from laying down.

_Ergh, headache!_

"Easy there, Hero." Dawson was hovering a few inches from my face.

"Pikapika chu pikachu?"

"Of course he's not fine—when you faint from an uppercut, it means your brain just shook inside your skull. I might not be a doctor, but a concussion seems like a big deal to me."

"Pika Pika!"

"I'm fine Pikachu." I rubbed the back of my head where my headache feels most painful. "Misty hits really hard, doesn't she. Her blows haven't changed since we last met."

"Humans are really weird."

"How did you get that impression?"

"My kind doesn't hit another unless they really hate him—the way I see it, Orange really cared for you; she cared about you enough to drag you back into your room and make you comfortable." _So that explains why I feel like I've been in this room before._

I looked around and true enough: I was on my bed (unlike when I first woke up here), my pillow was fluffed, and a blanket was on me—all in all, I was quite comfortable.

I sighed. "So...what's this about?" said I, coming to terms with the situation.

"I invited a bunch of your friends to this island and brought you here so you could woo one of them. To match your determination, I've made it so that none of you nor your friends could leave without a good reason to leave (and a good reason to return, in the case of your potential conquest targets) this island for 100 days. Good luck and you're welcome, Hero!" He gave me a thumbs up with a big smile.

I got up from the bed in a snappy manner from the shock. "You mean I'm stuck here with only girls with me for 100 days?!" I screamed in displeasure.

"Nonsense! That kind of scenario doesn't work anywhere. Even anime and games have male characters to ease the tension and awkwardness from a scenario like this. It just wouldn't feel as natural a setting to just surround you with girls. Plus, the girls would just get suspicious that way. I invited a few men that I thought you got along with best—Brock, Gary, the list goes on. But only a few of them would be living in this villa with you (It wouldn't be nice to cram all of you in one villa). There are also the island workers: the shopkeepers, doctors, themepark staff, you name it."

"That's not the point!" I shouted.

His eyes were glistening with a thick coat of tears. "Have I upset you, Hero?" he sniffed._ Damnit this is unfair: blond hair blue eyed fairy that looks like a cute 5 year old in a slightly too large for him white fluffy hoodie with a few cyan linings—this guy, giving me a puppy-dog-eyes crying face that only someone without a heart can be the cause of and yet feel no guilt at all—screw you, you and the person who invented cuteness! Give me back my "manly"!_

"N-no, th-thank you for doing this for me. I-I-I ap-p-pp-preciate your help." If my pitiful face could be summed up in a single emoji, it would be this:

(TT^TT) Why do I feel all this guilt!

"Really?! Thank goodness!" His face and floating posture brightened up as if he never made that pout a few seconds before—too bright in fact; call me crazy, but I think I see blooming flowers hovering around his ecstatic face that shone as bright as the sun. "Let's get started then! I'm sure you sensed your powers when you saw Orange, right?"

"Y-yeah." I don't know what to feel anymore.

He smiled from ear to ear. "I thought so! That was your HK powers doing their thing. Your now unlocked powers detect if you have the capacity to be truly in love with someone, and if that someone is also detected by your powers to have the capacity to also be truly in love with you, your powers start showing itself. That goes without saying that Orange may or may not like you now in _that _way, but she could be."

((You put that last line intentionally so Ash wouldn't freak out when he finds out Misty likes him more than he thinks; you are unexpectedly a scheming, calculating, manipulative guy.)) Pikachu gave Dawson a look. I wonder what he said to Dawson that time; it must be nice to be able to understand Pokemon.

"I admit that that's part of the reason—but it's also true that it doesn't mean that the person automatically likes you if the powers pop out, you know. I'm trying to avoid him getting misunderstandings!" whispered Dawson to Pikachu—I could't hear it.

I swallowed and nodded to signal him to continue. This was a lot to take in.

"You may see it like a dating-sim-game interface. I can't go into details right now since you can't see the usual interface at this moment so I'll get to that later when you talk to one of the girls."

"That reminds me, who are the girls that you invited anyways?"

"I've sent a letter with an RSVP to every girl that I sensed you have a capacity to be in love with and they in love with you. Only six have confirmed as of now—Misty deAzuré, Melody Fleur, May Vera, Anabel Esem, Dawn Hikari, and Iris Lilia—and only one of them was able to come this morning. The rest would be here either later in the afternoon or tomorrow." **(AN: Their last names are a play on their foreign names except Misty's and Anabel's which are: **_**"Of the sea"**_** and a play on Saloon Maiden **_**'SM' **_**respectively)**

_I'm alone in this villa with Misty ,_was the first thought that ran in my mind.

"'I'm alone in this villa with Misty.' You really are interested in girls, aren't you, Hero." said Dawson with a cheeky grin.

"Eh? Did I say that out loud?" I sat back down on my bed and covered my blushing face.

"No, but it's written all over your face." Dawson and Pikachu exchanged grins, winks, and thumbs ups. _How nice of you to make a friend to join you in finding enjoyment in my embarrassment, Pikachu._

"But no, Hero. Brock got here before Misty—he was out for a stroll when you found Misty. I'm sorry to pop your bubble."

"I wasn't fantasizing about anything!" _This is not a lie, honest._

"Good." I get a feeling that he wasn't convinced. "It's dangerous to rush these things, Hero. It's best if you figure out who you like first before you make a move—True Love is someone you are smitten to for the rest of your life after all. You should try to spend a day with each girl first and try to feel who resonates with you the most. But, before that, you need to get a grip on your powers."

The clock on the side table beeped. It was 7:00 AM. **(AN: Given that, it can be inferred that Ash met Misty and fell unconscious between 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning when "the sun has just risen" and woke up a few minutes before 7:00 to have the conversation with Dawson. I'm not sure if I let time flow in that section properly so I thought to explain what could be perceived as a "time-hole" in my story.)**

* * *

"Let us start with your user settings. Similar to all video games, it is best if you configure the settings to your liking first before everything else. It is the same with using your HK Powers. Start by shouting 'HK User Settings' to the air—don't worry, you'll get used to your powers quickly enough to be able to use commands just by thinking it soon. I still find it weird why unlocking your powers didn't give you the knowledge of using your powers like it's supposed to. But, thankfully, you show signs that imply that your body is at least familiar with your powers; anything less would mean your body would try to reject it—in other words, extreme physical pain for you." Dawson says this with such a bright smile on his face that it's slightly frightening, especially to me. "Go on, Hero. Shout 'HK User Settings'."

"HK User Settings!"

It was like when I read Misty's info box—my view was masked by a hot pink, semi-transparent rectangle. On the top left of the rectangle, there were the words "User Settings."

"What just popped up is called a 'dialogue', specifically, the 'User Settings dialogue'. As you can see, there are a lot of options in the settings. There should be a checkbox if you want a voice-over. It should be right below the label 'User Settings'."

Yes, it was there; but I have no idea what that checkbox labelled 'voice-over' means.

"It's time to teach you how to navigate your HK powers. Commands are made in a specific layout: [dialogue label-option name-what you want to do with it]. The first segment is only mandatory if you have multiple dialogues open at the same time or if you have no dialogues open at all. The second comprises of the options that you can read in the specific dialogue; in the case of manipulating the whole dialogue as in closing it, the second segment is the part where you say 'dialogue'. The third is self-explanatory, you can say anything as long as it holds the purpose of your command. For example, if you want to hear a voice that notifies you and shouts in your head the name of every major HK Power command that you do, you could say: 'User Settings. Voice-Over. Enable.' or simply 'Voice-Over On.'"

I shouted "Voice-Over On!" I felt like a lunatic if not a cyborg. A deep and powerful voice like that of a narrator echoed inside my head nearly immediately afterwards—it said [Voice-over Enabled!]. That's cool, I guess.

"Try playing around with the other options by only thinking the commands rather than shouting them so you could get used to your powers better."

It took a while, but I eventually managed to use commands by only thinking them. _User Settings, Interface Color Theme, Crimson!_ [Interface Color set to Crimson!] The voice was starting to get creepy. _User Settings Voice-over off. _"By the way, why are pink and crimson the only colors available?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know—that's like asking someone why he's caucasian."

"Anyhow, goodbye hot pink." _User Settings, Dialogue, Close. _"Okay. It's cool, I guess. Now what?"

"Hmm..." he pondered, "do you remember what you saw when you met Orange a while ago?"

"You mean the interface that looks like it was ripped off of a dating-sim?"

"Exactly. It's called the M.E. or Mood Environment. When someone triggers your powers to open up the M.E., that someone gets put into your 'Eligible List'; this is why, for a brief moment, you got to see a preview of the Info dialogue before summoning it again. Try opening up the Eligible List dialogue."

_Eligible List!_ I shout in my head. There was a length-wise rectangle similar to the previous dialogues I encountered masking the right half of my view. There was a list box labelled Get Info and a scroll bar similar to what you see in computers inside the dialogue.

"So far, only Orange's name is on your list. You can view it."

_Eligible List, Get Info, Misty deAzur__é__. _The same dialog as when I got knocked out by Misty appeared. _Eligible List Dialogue Close. Misty Info Dialogue Close._

"You temporarily download data via borrowing some of the power from the Pool of Love when viewing info of the people in your Eligible List. Actually, there's a shortcut for bringing up the general info of people in your Eligible List. You do this using the '(name)-info' layout. You accidentally brought up the info menu before because you shouted 'it's true, Misty! Info!'"

_You made me remember it even more, you-you-you-floating baby! _"Speaking of that, I should try to sort things out with Misty before that turns into a big problem."

"That's a great idea. Brock is still on his walk. I can explain the M.E. and the rest of your Powers telepathically while you're at it."

I looked around the villa for Misty—it was a fairly large villa. It wasn't fancy but it isn't ragged and run down—if anything, it felt like a very comfortable place to live in; it had an ambience of coziness. I found my way to a hallway where Dawson says is where the girls' rooms are located. Like the rest of the villa, it released an aura of cozy and zen—from the wood-finished floor, the simple yet elegant wood panel molding, to the velvet-carpet like wallpaper. Everything screamed comfy. Hell, every door has an entablature! I looked for the door with a name card that says Misty's name.

"Hero, on hindsight, I don't think it's a good idea for a bedroom encounter so soon after what she misunderstood as verbal sexual harassment."

"I never did that!"

"You told her her three sizes."

"I didn't know what that was for at that time! At least I skipped reading her breast size and continued on to her backstory."

"Pikachuuu" Pikachu shook his head. _What do you even mean by that, traitor Pikachu. _I puffed my cheeks. To be clear, I am _**not**_ jealous that Pikachu is getting along so well with someone he's only been with a few hours—don't get me wrong.

"But she doesn't know that, does she? Hero, saying her vital measurements is just as bad as saying her cup size, you-little-pervert-you." Dawson teased.

"I'm not a pervert. I even turned off the 'view breast size in info' option a little while ago."

"That's really not saying much."

"Pika" _Nodding your head in agreement?! Pikachu! _I puffed my cheeks again.

"Well, Hero. If you insist on going in her room," Dawson grabbed Pikachu and carried him piggyback (he was only a head larger than Pikachu when comparing both of them standing up), "Pikachu and I will stay hidden outside the door and sneak a few peaks every now and then."

((I'm going to shock you.))

"Aw, don't be like that, Let's have a little bonding time."

Pikachu sighs at Dawson. It's unfair how Dawson can understand pokéspeech.

* * *

Ash knocked at Misty's door. "Misty, are you there?"

"Go away, pervert." Misty retorted from the other side of the door while thinking: _There, my excuse is now planted in his mind: "She hit me because I was being a pervert." _

"I'm sorry. I just want to properly apologize to you face to face."

((Hmm...Ash really did grow up a little by little in those 10 years, hasn't he?)) Pikachu whispered to Dawson who was carrying him. They both chuckled, floating above the door's entablature.

Misty opened the door a creak, only showing a third of her body (which included her signature side-pony). Ash put his hand on the edge of the door and pushed it open nearly all the way.

"Hey! What the hell? You can't just barge inside a girl's room!" shouted Misty, blushing.

_Hey, Hero, can you hear me? Don't freak, I'm just mentally talking to you. You can see the M.E., can't you?_ Ash nodded but maintained his gaze at the person in front of him.

The M.E. was now visible to Ash.

On the top of his view, there was a gauge similar to the mood meter at the bottom of his perspective—the difference is, there was a symbol of the sun on one end and three white Z's arranged in something like an exponent (imagine 2 raised to the power of 3 raised to the power of 4, except with Zs and not numbers) on the other end rather than a broken heart at one end and a big heart at the other. From the left side to the right side, the gauge was colored yellow to sky blue to midnight blue in a gradient. Like the moodmeter, the gauge also has a triangular marker that moves laterally depending on the situation.

_See that bar on the top of your view, Hero? It's called the Energy-Bar. You can judge how much time you have left in a day by checking how far the meter marker is to the Zs on the right which signifies that your body has already reached it's limit of being healthily awake—meaning, you should get some sleep._

_ "_Easy enough, I guess."

"What's easy enough, Ketchum?" said Misty, who was now pissed to some extent for real.

"N-n-nothing, I-I'm j-j-j-j-just thinking out loud!" Ash was putting his arms up as if preparing to block a hit from a boxer.

_The circle to the left of the Energy-Bar does just what it looks like—it's just a digital clock in your M.E.. The circle circumscribing a beating heart shape with a number at the top right corner of your view on the right side of the Energy-Bar, however, is much more useful—it shows the heart rate of the nearest person in your eyeshot who is part of your Eligible List or the person you are talking to. You can check there if what you're doing is agitating, embarrassing, exciting, et cetera. Careful, though, what makes the heart beat faster could be either positive or negative. Be sure to look at the Heart Circle from time to time._

"I see!" Ash uttered by reflex seeing as he understood what he was taught—not knowing he was gazing at the general direction of Misty's B-cups.

((That idiot!)) Pikachu whispered.

"I really respect Hero a lot, but please, tell me about it" Dawson whispered back

Misty zipped up her yellow, sleeveless vest to just below her collar bone (she zipped it up all the way) covering her hooded, thin turquoise shirt and crossed her arms around her chest. "Hey! Watch where your looking!" The Heart Circle is pulsing at a speed 10 beats per minute above Misty's average, or so it's digital display showed.

_You already know what the bar on the bottom of your view is for, right? It's called the Mood meter, it roughly shows you the mood of a person in the most simple way possible—a meter that goes from 'totally down' to 'blissful' in a sense. It disappears if you aren't "being" with anyone. Seeing as yours is in the red now, you aren't really doing well, are you? _

_The left side of your perspective is empty for now because only one person from your Eligible List is in your immediate eyeshot. It should have a little portrait of every person, who is not the person you are talking to and is both in your E.L. and is in currently in your view, in a circle with both a tiny moodmeter and heartrate number beside every circle portrait. It's called the mini-M.E. Zone. The right side of your perspective, on the other hand, is where you usually put your resized dialogues. That's about it for the M.E.; did you understand, Hero?_

_ "_I think I've about sized it up." said Ash with a smile while being careful not to look at the roof of the door now behind him but instead look at the person in front of him so as not to blow Dawson's and Pikachu's cover.

An extremely flustered Misty gave him a quick, hard jab to the cheek.

((Of all the stupid things...)) Pikachu whispered using his language from outside the door.

Ash stumbled and fell on his butt. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Oh, I don't know? I wonder." said Misty, glaring at Ash. "They're not small! They're average—possibly even above average! It's a handful for your hands at least!" Misty covered her mouth with her dominant hand almost immediately. _No! I didn't want to shout that out loud! I got caught in the moment. Stupid Ash, this is your fault._ Her face was, as the saying goes, as red as a beet.

"Who knew Orange had a complex for her chest size." Dawson whispered to Pikachu outside the door.

((It came up a few times when she was with Ash when he was traveling his twelfth region. It's only when its come to Ash though. When it doesn't concern him, she doesn't really care.))

"So it's like that, huh?"

Dawson and Pikachu continued to watch Ash explain himself to Misty without revealing his powers.

((You're hair and skin is really soft; like a baby.)) Pikachu rubbed his cheek against Dawson's.

"Thank you! I'm a young fairy—if I was human I'd probably be 5 years old which explains my default appearance. I don't look like it, but I'm nearly 300 years old." Dawson smiled at Pikachu as he adjusted his piggyback carry.

* * *

Somehow, I was able to calm Misty down and clear up the misunderstanding. Explaining that was the longest 15 minutes of my life. I'm kneeling with both of my knees on the floor facing Misty who was sitting with her legs crossed and arms crossed on the edge of her bed. On a side note, I thought her faded jeans and red sneakers looked great on her. We were like this for a minute or two after I've explained my case—which are mostly lies because I can't reveal my secret.

Blushing, Misty broke the silence. "So, what were you going to say before, you know, before I knoc—before you fell unconscious?"

"What?" I looked up showing a confused face.

Misty undid her crossed arms and legs and leaned forward, looking into my eyes earnestly. "Your description of me! D-don't misunderstand! It's not like I want to know how you think of me. I just want you to go through something embarrassing like telling me what you think of me in front of my face as punishment!" _But it's not what I think of you, Misty—I just read it from your info dialogue..._

"Well?" said Misty.

"If you really want me to." _Misty Info! Info dialogue resize and reposition! There, now all I need to do is read, right? "Misty deAzur__é__, 21 years old, 57kg, 163cm, 82-fifty-sev—"_

"Gah! Skip that part, you pervert!"

"I'm sorry!" I anticipated a hit, but it didn't come. So I just proceeded to read. "_The fourth—albeit not officially—member of the sought after Sensational Sisters; a bit of a violent tomboy but actually a caring girl—Misty deAzur__é__ is the current gym leader of Cerulean City. She is a descendant of the noble deAzur__é line which was said to be the lords of Cerulean for centuries—although there is no evidence known to the public that supports this theory; however, such a backstory does fit the sound of her surname. __Being a tsundere to the core, she isn't very honest to herself when it comes to her feelings; though inside, she is quite the romantic. She actually likes cute things like many other girls—stuffed toys, kittens, you name it—and she hates bugs, a common fear among people of both genders. Misty is the first traveling companion of the protagonist whom she followed under the pretense of breaking her bike. Ever since, she had a little cru—"_

_ Here it comes, Misty. _Misty thought to herself.

The Heart Circle was increasing it's display number and speeding up it's beating. The Mood Meter's marker was vibrating wildly in place three-fourths of the way to the big heart shape at the right side of the Mood Meter.

_"—uel streak for Ash; sometimes even brandishing her mallet._ That's all of it Misty._"_

((This can't be good.)) I could faintly hear the 'pikapikas' from outside the door—if I were to guess what it meant, it's probably a sly comment on my current unfortunate situation; I mean, how good can I have it when the Mood Meter marker just recently flew like a rocket from three-fourths of the way to the right side to three-fourths of the way to the left side.

_That was all?_ Misty sighed after a few seconds. _I guess that's that. _Misty thought to herself. _Maybe it's for the best if he doesn't know. Look at you, Misty, one moment you panic at the thought of him knowing and the next moment you listen expectantly to hear him say he knows how you feel and what he feels about it. Get a grip, girl._

The Mood Meter is firmly in place an eighth of the whole length of the Mood Meter from the grey broken heart symbol on the left extreme of the gauge.

Misty stood up "I'm going to check to see if Brock's back. I forgot to tell you, what with all the things that happened, it's nice to see you again." Misty gave off a smile—maybe the Mood Meter is broken?

* * *

"Yikes, gotta hide! Orange is walking this way!"

As soon as Misty was out of sight, Dawson, carrying Pikachu, floated inside to face Ash.

"Don't beat yourself up for the drop in the Mood Meter during the last few exchange of words. Observing you for 10 years, I also get to see how your friends are—with how she is, I'm not surprised if Orange's mood will return to the middle after she sorts herself out for a few minutes. Something like this isn't something she cries about—that's just petty for Orange."

"...maybe." Ash was not quite sure himself. "I think I'll take a walk. Be sure to shut the door when you get out."

* * *

((You're not going to tell him what you told me?)) Pikachu asked Dawson.

"I think it's best that he doesn't know about the Affection-level dialogue."

((Why not?))

"He's new to romance. If he knew that many of his female friends that are coming have slightly crossed the 1200-point mark out of 5000 (1200 points is the borderline of crushing on someone—1200 means the biggest crush ever.) or is at least near 1200 points; I don't know what he'd turn into—not that I don't trust Hero; but it's my responsibility to put as little risk to the Pool of Love as possible. Making a player out of Ash while his powers are unsealed is the last and possibly one of the most dangerous things I should do. There isn't an arrow for sealing HK Powers—he has to fall in love; believe me when I say that a player is unlikely to do that."

((I never thought just being nice to everyone—like some romantic comedy harem anime's dense main character—would make girls like you this much in real life. Misty has it hard, hasn't she.))

"Well, she _is_ the one with the most Affection points for Ash (1315 AP)—tied with one other person."

((Ash, when did you get so popular.)) Pikachu smirked.

* * *

**AN: A handful of characters will make a debut in the next chapter. Two or three, give or take.**


End file.
